Hi guys, I bought in an ebay auction 8 Robert Sorby Chisels + 1 japanese, but as Im kinda a newbie, is hard to identify the gouges… I’ll appreciate if you could help me.....And this beast…is it an skew chisel or scraper? ..

Thanks in advance and best regards,macdo

10 replies so far

Of the other four tools, #2 looks like a spindle roughing gouge. The other three appear (can’t tell for sure what #1 is) to be old fashioned spindle gouges. Also can’t tell if these are carbon steel or HSS.

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

From the angle of the new photo, I’d guess the first two on the left to be roughing gouges, the third one a scraper, and the fourth a detail spindle gouge. I agree with TheDane that the wide flat one in the first post is a wide flat scraper.

Ron

-- Once in awhile I make something really great. Most days I just make sawdust.

I’m a relative newbie, but what I’ve read and been told about roughing gouges is that they are relatively weak—note the smallish tang that inserts in the handle. It might be unsafe to convert and use it as a bowl gouge, which have a stronger design.

-- My mother said that anyone learning to cook needed a large dog to eat the mistakes. As a sculptor of wood I have always tried to keep a fireplace. (Norman Ridenour)

Oh bummer, I though the first one was a bowl gouge, is there a way to grind it to make it work as a bowl gouge?

No … you would be creating a hazard that could injure you. ForestGrl is spot on … the tang (where the steel goes into the handle) is a weak point and a good catch could bend or break it and rip it right out of your hands.

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

How are your sharpening skills, have you any gouges yet that you’ve worked on? One thing I learned, the easy way for once, is to learn to sharpen on cheap chisels (this coming from a very sharpening-challenged person!). Although there is an argument that it’s not that expensive to learn on an expensive gouge. I just got less frustrated when the steel continued to disappear and I still didn’t get it. :-( If your tool isn’t sharp, you’re wasting your time spinning wood! (oooo, that was a little strong). But it can be a little unsafe too.

-- My mother said that anyone learning to cook needed a large dog to eat the mistakes. As a sculptor of wood I have always tried to keep a fireplace. (Norman Ridenour)